Exploring the people, places & culture of greater LA
If you’re like me, you’ve been paying a lot of attention to the dramatic events unfolding throughout the Middle East. While there are many positive and hopeful signs that point to a better future for millions of people in that part of the world, the fact remains that significant hurdles must still be overcome to establish governments that work for the people, rather than against them, and for peace and understanding to become the norm between the nations and peoples of the region.
Given my penchant for seeking out some wild and crazy events going on around the greater LA area (did you read my piece about Lucha VaVoom?), it might surprise you to learn that I love hanging out in libraries and exploring local archives. That’s why a workshop on preserving Santa Monica’s history caught my eye.
ProjectFresh and Mindshare Los Angeles, two related event series curated by Douglas Campbell, promise opportunities for participants to share ideas, foster dialogue, build community, problem solve and take action on a wide range of issues. At the same time, these events promise attendees a fun, socially engaging night out with other people who like to mix intelligent conversation with partying.
In case you haven’t heard, many of LA’s top arts organizations are offering discounts and special offers through April 30, 2011. That’s because they’re participating in the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Discover The Arts in Los Angeles program.
I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to spend time with other people who love LA as much as I do. One of the best ways to find these kindred spirits is to take a tour with them, and that’s exactly what I did several weeks ago. On Saturday afternoon, December 11th, I participated in a bus tour called East Side Babylon, run by Esotouric, a local tour company. The excursion introduced me to a facet of local history that I was largely unfamiliar with; namely, local crime tales from communities east of the Los Angeles river, including East LA and the cities of Montebello and Commerce.
One reason I became an avid museumgoer as an adult and developed an appreciation for the arts was because I was regularly taken to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and other museums when I was a child. Many kids aren’t that fortunate and the only opportunity they have to visit a museum is if their school arranges a field trip. Moreover, many of these same students have little or no exposure to art within their classrooms.
To help reach a largely unserved audience and fill this educational gap, LACMA offers free admission and free Docent Council tours to student groups of varying ages and grade levels. The museum also provides students who visit the museum on a school tour a NexGen membership, which entitles them to visit the museum with an adult guest at no cost until their 18th birthday.
This Saturday, The Studio for Southern California History is hosting a holiday book boutique and bake sale “featuring recent and memorable work related to Los Angeles history—from children’s books to advanced scholarship.” A number of local poets, historians, and children’s literature authors plan to attend this event and sign their books, such as Martin Cox and Gordon Ghareeb (Hollywood to Honolulu, The Story of the Los Angeles Steamship Company), William David Estrada (The Los Angeles Plaza: Sacred and Contested Space) and Olga Garcia Echeverria (Falling Angeles: Cuentos y Poemas), among others. For a complete list of participants, please check out this event flyer.
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